15 St Bernard's Crescent, Edinburgh

3 St Bernard's Crescent is an extensive, symmetrical crescent-shaped terrace of two-storey townhouses with a basement and attic, built in 1824 by James Milne, with later alterations to the attic. The central block is three-storey and also has a basement. The design is in a plain Greek Classical style. The buildings are constructed of sandstone ashlar. The front platts project over the basement recess to the street. A banded base course is visible, along with a continuous colonnade of fluted Greek Doric columns at ground floor level. These columns support a plain frieze and a moulded cornice, with continuous cast-iron balconies above. A corniced eaves course sits above, surmounted by a balustraded parapet. The doorways have inset timber four-panel doors and rectangular fanlights with varied geometric glazing patterns. The first-floor windows have tall, moulded architraves and cornices. Later rectangular, piend-roofed dormers have been added to the attic, with a larger tile-hung box dormer at number 33.

Numbers 15 to 23 form the three-storey and basement centrepiece, featuring giant, fluted Greek Doric columns arranged 2-4-2 in antis, a plain entablature, and a moulded cornice. Advanced, pilastered single bays flank the centre, with pilasters dividing the central four bays at the second floor. A corniced eaves course runs along the top. There is a cast-iron balustrade to the first-floor windows, and cast-iron balconies to the first-floor windows in the central section.

The rear elevation is of coursed squared sandstone rubble with tooled ashlar rybats, lintels, and cills. The ground level falls to the east, revealing an ashlar basement and ground floor on the left (Nos. 50-58 Dean Street), while the right side has a painted timber fascia (No. 50 Dean Street). A string course separates the basement from the ground floor, and a moulded cornice is visible on the right (Nos. 50 and 52 Dean Street). Some cast-iron balconies are present at the first floor. Fenestration is generally regular.

Predominantly, the windows have a 12-pane glazing pattern in timber sash and case frames, with a 4-over-12-lying pane pattern at the first floor. The roof is double-pitched and covered in grey slates. Corniced ashlar ridge stacks have clay cans. Cast-iron railings edge the basement recess to the street and incorporate decorative lamp standards with large bowl shades.

The interiors, observed in 2010, feature a decorative classical scheme with intricate plasterwork and large drawing rooms. Stone stairs have a detailed cast-iron balustrade and timber handrail, topped by large oval cupolas with decorative plasterwork. Large ground and first-floor drawing rooms at the front have decorative cornicing, ceiling roses, and large marble fireplaces. Cornicing continues throughout the building, though it is less elaborate on the upper floors and in the basement. Working window shutters are present, and some areas have been converted into flats.